This was the scope of the technology for the phone to the bullpen at Candlestick Park. When the manager or pitching coach wanted to call down to the bullpen so a relief pitcher could start warming up, this wall telephone was it. This photograph was taken in the late 1980’s.

I’m sure there are some younger folks or children who never saw one of these old phones. It is interesting to contemplate the evolution of the telephones. At least, this one had push buttons instead of the old dial.

Now practically everyone is carrying some sort of smart phone with the ability to surf the internet, call folks, text contacts, stream media, listen to music and whatever functionality an app can provide.

It is nice to reminisce about the old fashioned phone – when a phone was just a phone. Candlestick Park represents a simpler time. We could enjoy a baseball or football game and just focus on the game. We could enjoy a good time with those who attended the game with us. We did not look at our cellphones to see our emails, look up something on the internet or text other friends.

What is our lesson from Candlestick Park? Maybe we should try to focus a little more on the primary task at hand. Can we just focus to watch the SF Giants play baseball now without looking at other distractions?

Let’s try it and see what it is like to focus only on the SF Giants play baseball.

The answer is one of baseball’s all time great, Barry Bonds. I took this photograph at Pacific Bell Park during Fuji Photo Day.

Barry Bonds signed with the Giants in 1992. The Giants were still playing at Candlestick Park. He was playing with the Pittsburg Pirates before becoming a free agent. He was the most sought after free agent available in 1992. He signed a record 6 year $43.75 million deal. The deal was orchestrated by Peter Magowan. He became the highest-paid player in baseball history. Barry Bonds played for the Giants for 15 years.

Barry Bonds played left field at Candlestick Park. Al Michaels, the ABC broadcaster for Monday night football, stated left field at Candlestick Park was one of the most expensive piece of real estate in any sports stadium during a 49’ers game in 1992. Al was referencing the large contract paid to Barry Bonds who would play in left field (the north end zone) of Candlestick Park for the 1993 season.

Back Lit Statue of Saint Francis of Assisi was photographed in front of Candlestick Park in the late 1980’s. The steel and concrete statue by Ruth Wakefield Cravath was moved from the ballpark when it was torn down in 2015. It was put in storage in Oakland and will be refurbished. The new location for installing the statue is to be determined. The statue was installed at Candlestick Park in 1973 after the project to add seats and enclose the stadium for the 49ers.

This was the Double Decker Escalator which was going up to the main concourse area at Candlestick Park. I remember going to Candlestick Park a long time ago and marveling at the escalators there. They were extremely impressive in moving large amounts of people to and from the parking lot to the stadium concourse areas. They were very reliable as I don’t remember them being broken for any SF Giants or 49’er games I went to back then. They transported us quickly to the concourse levels so we could get our food before the games started. It is too bad all six of the escalators were torn down when Candlestick Park was flattened.

The image was photographed using color film with a 35mm Canon camera mounted on a tripod utilizing a slow shutter speed to get the blurred effect of the people moving.

Candlestick Park had a very distinctive exterior look because of the support beams, light standards, and the red color. The support beams and light standards were painted dark green in the 1990’s. Candlestick Park was visible from US 101 for over a mile away before it was torn down. It was torn down in 2015 but it is still strange when driving down US 101 and seeing an empty space where it used to be.

I hope they will create a Candlestick Park museum on site when they build up the area in the future. There is so much history there and a lot of stories to tell.

The unmistakable Red Chairs at Candlestick Park in the lower box seat area photographed in September 1989 before a night SF Giants game. I have so many memories of going to SF Giants and 49’ers games and sitting in either The Red or Orange Chairs.

There were red and orange chairs in different parts of the stadium.

It was sad that Candlestick Park was torn down and that all the Red and Orange Chairs were removed.

I bought an orange Candlestick Park seat bottom to use for a background for taking my product photographs. Due to expense and lack of space, I did not buy the entire chair.

Perhaps in the future, I will purchase a Red or Orange Chair from Candlestick Park for sentimental purposes.

Lower Box Seats behind home plate at Candlestick Park during batting practice before a SF Giants game. You can see the luxury boxes that circled above and the press box up on top of the stadium.

These were great seats with good chances of foul balls coming in this section. I rarely got to sit in this section because the seats were much more expensive and were harder to come by. When I did sit here, I always brought my glove just in case a foul ball came my way.

Welcome to the exit corridor from the Upper Box level in the right field stands area of Candlestick Park. It was interesting to look down the corridor and see the sunlight streaming in from the opening leading to the upper box seats. This exit corridor looks almost endless.

Are those ghost figures seen in the middle of this exit corridor photograph? The answer is “No”.

I took this photograph with my camera on a tripod and did a long exposure which explains the ghosting effect of the people walking into the picture during the long exposure. There were people who walking into the corridor from the left in the middle where you see the “ghosting” effect caused by the long exposure. The corridor was fairly dark and I was not using high speed film. So I had to use a tripod to get a clear picture of the corridor.

Unfortunately Candlestick Park is gone, and I cannot go back to take more interesting and artistic photographs.

The special ghosting effect was not added via any software, and is the actual photograph I took over 25 years ago.

337 – Exterior of Candlestick Park photographed from Lot E. Pedestrian access was easy as there were plenty of escalators and entrances to enter the ballpark. Parking in the main lot was convenient as it was a short walk to the stadium. But if you stayed to watch the end of a close game, it took a long time to get out of the lot.

I took this photograph in the late 1980’s in Parking Lot E. This is an iconic photograph of the Candlestick Park stadium. It is interesting to see the “vintage” cars in the parking lot.

My Candlestick Park photos were the first collection of photos I took during my college years. They represent my decision to become a photographer and to major in Fine Art photography. I was taking photography course work at College of San Mateo and later at the Academy of Art College during this time as I was shooting at Candlestick Park.

These images represent my love of baseball, Candlestick Park and photography. This is a big reason why these photographs are so important to me.

Hope you also can share your love of Candlestick Park with your comments in my blog.

This photograph is real and untouched other than removing any dust marks from the scanning of my black and white negative to create the digital file.